Each mark on these calendars keeps track of when a woman from Norbury was taking the contraceptive pill.

21 days of taking the pill was followed by seven days off.She started taking the Pill just before she got married. She did not want to have children straight away.

Anonymous

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Anonymous

A woman from Norbury explains what it was like to start taking the contraceptive pill:

"In 1965 it just wasn't something you spoke openly to people about.

The Pill was quite a new thing then.My friend was taking it andas a biology teachershe understood how it worked.She explained it to meand said that she thought it was safe,so I followed her advice and took it."

"You had to keep these little pill calendarsand fill them in every dayso that they could check whether you'd taken your pills.It was a much higher dosage in those days,so they kept a close check on your blood pressure and weight."

Taking the contraceptive pill

The contraceptive pill became available in Britain in 1961. By 1965, 460,000 women across the country were taking it.

Moral critics attacked the Pill.It would encourage free love and undermine family values.

The careful completion of calendars is at odds with the idea of sexual freedom.For many women, the Pill was simply a chance to plan their families reliably for the first time.

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